Went to the post office to open a bank account because I could not wait for my Alien's Registration Card needed to open a private bank account. So I opened one with the Japan Post Office. Thats the 郵便番号 (yuubin bango) sign. Which is the postal code sign. Their bank is called JP bank.
The funny thing is that its not particularly compatible with many insitutions. For example, Waseda. For instance, for the students of the JASSO scholarship, the school deposits their scholarship money monthly into the student's bank account. But cannot do so if their bank account is the post office's. They must apply for one of the private banks, names Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ, or Mizuho or Resona and others.
I am going to have to apply for Resona because they are having coming to Waseda to simply the procedures for opening a bank account with foreign students like myself. Apparently, it is, I quote 'very very very difficult to open a bank account on your own.' There is a clause saying somewhere, that foreigners need to prove that they have stayed in Japan for the past 6 months to open a private bank account.
Having done my research, there have been some conflicting accounts of personal experiences of opening bank accounts here. More bad than good, I should say. Unfortunately, my dorm automatically deducts my rental directly from my bank account if its Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ. So if I open one with Resona, it means I have to make my payments personally, which is to me not that big a deal really. Just a small hassle.
So this are the bank's services, and opening times. Which I think is a very good and comprehensive way to telling customers what they can and cannot do.
The inside of a bank. Opening a bank account here was very fast! And the pin number here is 4 digit. But if your pin number cannot be your birth date or the last four number of your handphone. and its interesting how the system knows and rejects any combination of those numbers!
The funny thing is that its not particularly compatible with many insitutions. For example, Waseda. For instance, for the students of the JASSO scholarship, the school deposits their scholarship money monthly into the student's bank account. But cannot do so if their bank account is the post office's. They must apply for one of the private banks, names Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ, or Mizuho or Resona and others.
I am going to have to apply for Resona because they are having coming to Waseda to simply the procedures for opening a bank account with foreign students like myself. Apparently, it is, I quote 'very very very difficult to open a bank account on your own.' There is a clause saying somewhere, that foreigners need to prove that they have stayed in Japan for the past 6 months to open a private bank account.
Having done my research, there have been some conflicting accounts of personal experiences of opening bank accounts here. More bad than good, I should say. Unfortunately, my dorm automatically deducts my rental directly from my bank account if its Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ. So if I open one with Resona, it means I have to make my payments personally, which is to me not that big a deal really. Just a small hassle.
So this are the bank's services, and opening times. Which I think is a very good and comprehensive way to telling customers what they can and cannot do.
The inside of a bank. Opening a bank account here was very fast! And the pin number here is 4 digit. But if your pin number cannot be your birth date or the last four number of your handphone. and its interesting how the system knows and rejects any combination of those numbers!
Oh, and for those coming to Japan to open an account, you MUST have your seal, otherwise known as inkan or hanko to open one. Japanese tend not to use handwritten signatures. But that also means you have to guard your inkan with your life. If not you will have to go through the hassle of doing all your documentation all over again!
I bought an electronic good, and I thought this was a good way to carry bulky items! Its like a handle. I wonder if Singapore electronic shops do something like this.
And this is what I bought. A dehumidifier! Why? Cos my room gets very very very dusty very very very easily. I have to sweep my floor once in the day and once at night! This dehumidifier is supposed to ionize the air and suck in the dust and stuff. I dunno how true it is, but I just had to try something. I have started to get some respiratory problems, namely with my throat getting all clogged up and sore, and with my breathing. I can distincting feel the dust in my nostrils... Ha...
I bought an electronic good, and I thought this was a good way to carry bulky items! Its like a handle. I wonder if Singapore electronic shops do something like this.
And this is what I bought. A dehumidifier! Why? Cos my room gets very very very dusty very very very easily. I have to sweep my floor once in the day and once at night! This dehumidifier is supposed to ionize the air and suck in the dust and stuff. I dunno how true it is, but I just had to try something. I have started to get some respiratory problems, namely with my throat getting all clogged up and sore, and with my breathing. I can distincting feel the dust in my nostrils... Ha...
Dehumidifiers are big in Japan. There were so many brands!!! Namely targetting mothers concerned with getting clean air for their babies. This one I bought was already on sale, came up to about SGD200, after discount (I suspect no one likes the colour green). There were alot more expensive brands. And I even got a loyalty card. Any item I purchase there gives me 3% discount.
Oh, loyalty cards are also big in Japan. Practically every chain store has a loyalty card. Even noodle houses and convenience stores... I guess there is so much retail competition going out there, that retailers are pulling the guns to keep their customers.
The thing on top of the dehumidifier is some fragrance. Japan has this thing for mega stores. Shall take a picture next time, of this one level shopping mall, that spans acres selling practically EVERYTHING. from furniture to electronics to clothes to rubbish bags.
Across THAT mega mall, is KS Denki, where I bought the dehumidifier, which like the mega mall, is a sprawling electronics stall. And across THIS one, is ANOTHER mega store called 'Kids R Us.' No prizes for guessing what kind of merchandises they sell there! In graying Japan, kids are MEGA investments and cherished prizes.
Oh, dogs too. It seems that every other person on the street has a dog on a lease. Some even two. I saw one couple at Ueno park with FIVE sausage dogs in tow. But they were all very well groomed dogs. The Japanese certain love their dogs.
Shall put up more pictures along the way!